Protests escalate in American universities to demand an end to the aggression against Gaza
The protest movement has escalated in several prestigious American universities to demand an end to the aggression against the Gaza Strip that has been ongoing for 200 days and an end to America’s arming of the Zionist enemy entity.
American media reported last night that pro-Palestinian students continued their sit-in at more universities across the United States despite mass arrests in similar demonstrations at several East Coast universities in recent days.
Among the new camps, students at the University of California at Berkeley, a university famous for its student activism during the 1960s, set up tents in solidarity with protesters on other campuses.
Also in California, authorities closed the campus of Cal Poly Humboldt University, a public university in Arcata, California, after pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied a building on the campus.
On the University of Minnesota campus in St. Paul, police removed an encampment after the university administration asked them to take action, citing violations of university policy and the trespassing law.
Students supporting the Palestinian cause also continued their sit-in on the campus of Columbia University in New York, for the seventh day in a row, under pressure from the university administration and several political levels to end the sit-in.
The new protests follow the arrest of more than 120 protesters on the New York University campus late Monday evening, according to a New York City Police spokesman.
The police said that the university authorities requested assistance and that the protesters did not leave their places by the deadline set by the university.
New York University canceled student attendance the day before yesterday in an attempt to defuse tension on campus, fearing that Jewish students would face possible harassment.
Civil rights advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have raised free speech concerns about the arrests.
The New York Police also arrested a group of demonstrators from the Jewish Voices for Peace group after they gathered outside the home of Democratic Majority Leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, demanding an end to providing weapons to the entity.
Students supporting the Palestinian cause also continued their sit-in on the campus of Columbia University in New York, for the seventh day in a row, under pressure from the university administration and several political levels to end the sit-in.
Agence France-Presse quoted the American police as saying that 133 protesters against the Gaza war were arrested on the university campus.
Columbia University announced Monday that courses on campus will offer virtual options for students when possible, citing safety as their top priority. University President Minouche Shafiq said in a letter that she feels “deeply saddened” by what is happening on campus.
Arrests
The new protests come in the wake of the arrest of more than 120 protesters on the New York University campus late Monday, according to a New York City Police spokesman.
The police said that the university authorities requested assistance and that the protesters did not leave their places by the deadline set by the university.
New York University canceled student attendance the day before yesterday in an attempt to defuse tension on campus and fear that Jewish students would face possible harassment.
Civil rights advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have raised free speech concerns about the arrests.
New York Police also arrested a group of demonstrators from the Jewish Voices for Peace group after they gathered outside the home of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, demanding an end to providing weapons to Israel.
The demonstrators blocked traffic in front of the street surrounding Schumer’s house, chanting, “Stop funding genocide.”
This demonstration comes as part of several similar gatherings in New York and other American cities demanding that Washington stop arming Israel and stop the Israeli war on Gaza.
Allegations of anti-Semitism
Columbia University officials, along with state officials, some members of Congress, and the White House, alleged that Jewish students were subjected to anti-Semitic incidents and harassment by demonstrators.
While student organizers acknowledged that there were some incidents of extremist rhetoric, they noted that some of the protesters were Jewish themselves. They insisted that the “instigators” did not represent their anti-war movement.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that authorities had identified people unrelated to universities who were causing problems during the peaceful protests.
In a press conference, he added, “Instigators cannot come from abroad and cause chaos.”
In the same context, the Deputy White House spokeswoman confirmed that US President Joe Biden spoke about what he described as vile chants circulating over the weekend in student demonstrations at American universities, noting that Biden called for confronting the worrying spread of anti-Semitic rhetoric and considered silence to be collaboration.
He added that every American has the right to peaceful protest, but calls for violence and physical intimidation against Jewish students and the Jewish community are considered anti-Semitic and have no place on any college campus or anywhere in the United States.
